The other day I was reading “The Book of Tea” by Kakuzo Okakura. I picked it up as 1) I love tea, and 2) find the ceremony – be it a full-fledged traditional one, or a simple one at home of pouring and drinking tea – quite interesting.

In my mind, this is the moment of slowing down. At the peak of it, I feel the thoughtful quietness of everything around me. It’s like my mind carves a minute or two of stillness, and so I bask in beauty – of light dancing on the rugs, of my cats stretching to catch that warmth with their paws, of wind I cannot feel but see outside my window rustling the sprouting leaves.

It doesn’t solve my worries and anxieties. Yet it tells me, “You’re here.” It shows me the moments I’d have otherwise missed. It connects me with the beauty of moments – that I get to appreciate and go on.

“Our mind is the canvas on which the artists lay their colour; their pigments are our emotions; their chiaroscuro the light of joy, the shadow of sadness. The masterpiece is of ourselves, as we are of the masterpiece.”

To me, wherever my mind goes in those moments is art. It plucks me out of a hurry of my thoughts and places me in the “here and now” state. And when I’m here and now, I feel and understand myself much better.

The tea ceremony masters curated a whole ceremony around this state: From the walk across the garden to the pagoda, from a few pieces of art in the room to a perfectly brewed cup of tea. The thought behind was to create the moment of calm and thoughtful quietness while surrounded by beauty curated by ceremony masters for a certain emotion, feeling, or purpose.

I thought, imagine how you could bring one piece of beauty to the inbox of digitally bound people? You and I might share different backgrounds and mindsets. Naturally, art would take us to vastly different paths and yet we are united by the same purpose: Pause, observe, and explore where our minds take us.

(Perhaps, the right idea waits for you at the end of it.)

Isn’t it curiosity? Isn’t it a moment of quiet thoughtfulness of beauty?

So, here I am – creating a ceremony of sorts in your inbox. I will be back whenever something strikes me because I'd love to share these little moments with you.

(You can scroll back to the quote I shared above. This is what inspired me to share. What sparks you?)

Lots of love,

Mariia